Gabriel Kumi, Vice-Chairman of the Ghana LPG Marketing Companies Association, has renewed requests for the government to subsidize the cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
He claims that LPG has an alternative in charcoal and wood fuel, and that as it becomes more expensive, people would switch.
On Wednesday, he claimed on the Super Morning Show that subsidizing the cost of LPG would considerably increase the country's LPG use.
The announcement comes after JoyNews discovered that a rise in demand for charcoal as a cooking option has resulted from an increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Mr. Kumi suggested that the only way to stop this tendency is for the government to take up some of the burden. "The only thing that needs to be done is to make LPG more accessible." LPG is currently considered a premium item. The masses of our people who we need to persuade to use LGP are unable to do so, and the only way to do so is to make LPG accessible to the general public. As a result, some governments, such as Cote d'Ivoire, are subsidizing the commodity.
"We feel that the first step is to remove all of the tariffs on LPG and lower the price. The price of LPG is quite volatile. Any rise or reduction in the price of LPG in pesewa has a significant impact on its use. So if you cut the price of LPG by 18%, you can bet you'll get a lot of interest. Mr. Kumi is concerned that if the trend continues, the country's forest cover would be depleted.
In the meanwhile, the Forestry Commission is working to protect the country's forest reserves. According to the Commission, the increase in demand for charcoal reflects a demonstrable loss of the plant cover. As a result, it has begun to distribute seeds for plants that may be used to produce commercial charcoal.
"What the Commission is doing is levying those vehicles that carry charcoal, we have checkpoints in various areas, we charge 80 pesewas every little bag of charcoal," Augustine Kofi Gyedu, the Commission's Ashanti Regional Manager, explained.